Can’t Let Go

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There are times in your life when you question things that are swirling around you and even within you. You have that negativity that tries to make you question your own beliefs and thoughts. They tell you that you shouldn’t love like you do …. care like you care. That you should be ashamed to hold your head up because that is who your heart beats for ….  That your love should have paid more attention – mistakes were made and they want to condemn who you love

But your heart tells you how can you not forgive – when you were forgiven  ………….so many times.

They call you names because you don’t support the thoughts that “they” want to prevail upon you. Those voices grow louder as they try harder to impose their thoughts on and within your heart.

So as you stand in the heart of the storm, winds howling in your face, raining so hard you can feel the sting on your cheeks – you slowly turn to visualize the faces from the taunting words. You want to connect those bitter filled barrage of words with a vision of who is yelling them at you. You want to know who it is that is trying so hard to make you let go of the hand that brought you to where you are in your life …..from your mother that gave you breath …. the frail hand that once took care of you when you didn’t know how to take care of yourself…. the thin frail body that nurtured you and gave you the confidence to stand up   … that fed you and taught you how to feed yourself …. that showed you there were many like you that had travelled your path and saw success …… you hold her hands tightly as you try to help her steady herself as you turn to the voices

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As you strain to focus your eyes through the elements –  it surprises you  to see that some of the faces are the visions of spirits that your mother once took care of and fed at her table. … all you can do is shake your head because now they are telling you to let her go …it hurts to see those that you once played with, grew up with – toss rocks at her at a time when she has made a wrong turn

they often their voices as they tell you she has served her purpose. that she is old – not relevant – not as effective today as she was yesterday

they want you to believe there is something  wrong with you because you won’t turn your back …. because you won’t join steps with them

you look even closer and you notice that they continue to stand in front of their own mother – they have protected her and time has not been good to her, either – you can see the damage on her frail body and how they have protected her … nurtured her …. stood by her … helped her when she had fallen off the road ……

She raised me to be of strong mind and to make my own decisions and to travel the course that right not wrong …..My grip is stronger, as my will – strengthens her  …  our love has to sustain her ….. their words will not make me turn away from my mother …….

She has been as important to me as your mother to you …….  even more so because she did it when no one believed in her or the children that she took in from everywhere – – we all became – – –  her children ….

I can not listen to you as you try to speak your words into existence …. and know I will never apologize for standing here with her

She is still mine and regardless of what you say – I will stand on the tallest of  7 hills and be there to help nurture her back ………………… again

Mickey Clayton     May, 2012

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Boys vs Girls

One of the things that really really gets to me is the high school coach who keeps their athletes from participating in summer and/or travel teams. It is almost as if they are afraid they will lose “control” over their students. I have coached men and women collegiately and to some degree of success. There are really some very strong differences in coaching each and the level of importance in each.

For girls it is critical for them to play – just for the improvement they make by playing in organized competitive situations. Sitting around the house and waiting until school starts has stalled the future of many of the girls who say they want to play basketball and get better. There are not a high number of places that a girl  can find to play that is not over-run with boys. For those older girls who desire to play…

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Boys vs. Girls

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Boys vs Girls

One of the things that really really gets to me is the high school coach who keeps their athletes from participating in summer and/or travel teams. It is almost as if they are afraid they will lose “control” over their students. I have coached men and women collegiately and to some degree of success. There are really some very strong differences in coaching each and the level of importance in each.

For girls it is critical for them to play – just for the improvement they make by playing in organized competitive situations. Sitting around the house and waiting until school starts has stalled the future of many of the girls who say they want to play basketball and get better. There are not a high number of places that a girl  can find to play that is not over-run with boys. For those older girls who desire to play on the collegiate level recruiting takes place to a very large degree during the summer. With that being said, there are still a lot of opportunities for college coaches to find the hidden gems in girls basketball because there are still a large number of girls who don’t play over the summer.

The boys are so involved with playing that the guys play everywhere, all the time. They play with teams, pick-up situations and individually on their skills. There are so many people that will exploit the young men that play having them with the right program is instrumental. Kudos to the many programs that emphasize the total growth of the kids in their programs. There are many of you that do that and as a former collegiate coach – thank you. As a former collegiate director of academic advisement and developer of an athletic academic support program- thank you – again.

PET PEEVES coming …..